Architecture and Art

Aarhus University has a long tradition for collaborating with the most distinctive contemporary artists. The university has one of the largest art collections in the city, and the numerous paintings featured on its yellow brick walls include works by Egill Jacobsen, Jens Birkemose, Per Kirkeby, Erik A. Frandsen and Preben Hornung.

When the Ministry of Culture published its Canon of Danish Art and Culture in 2007, Aarhus University’s buildings and the University Park in Aarhus were listed among the 12 most important architectural icons in Denmark. The following extract is from the description of the university:

Erected in the 1930s, Aarhus University hints at brighter times for Aarhus and Denmark. The architecture is modern, and immediately anti-monumental, as an organic interpretation of the open campus in the centre of the city. It also provides distinctive and solid evidence of how a major structure in an urban context can develop with beauty and with soul over a period of more than 70 years.

The architecture at Aarhus University

The art committee

The art committee

The art committee is a consultative and guiding committee which has the task to work out a proper art politic and guidelines for the processing of art at Aarhus University prior to the middle of November 2012.

Erik A. Frandsen

Erik A. Frandsen

In 2009, Erik A. Frandsen created a large decoration of the building which lies as an extension of The Student House on the corner of Langelangsgade and Fredrik Nielsens Vej.

Per Kirkeby

Per Kirkeby

In 2001, Per Kirkeby created the impressive ceiling painting in the Lake Side Lecture Theaters. The University offers a lecture about Per Kirkeby’s decorations in the Lake Side Lecture Theaters